Present day engines are being manufactured to meet or exceed stringent environmental standards in order to preserve the world in which we live. Engine improvements are constantly being made in an effort to accomplish this goal. It is for this reason that engine components, such as pumps, are being manufactured to minimize or eliminate fluid leakage into the environment.
The cooling fluid circulating pump for most internal combustion engines has a shaft rotatably mounted within a pump housing. A coolant seal assembly surrounds the shaft to substantially isolate a first housing chamber containing coolant from an intermediate housing chamber. A second housing chamber contains an oil lubricated bearing assembly and is isolated from the intermediate housing chamber by a secondary seal assembly. An impeller is attached to the end of the shaft and is located within the first housing chamber. During operation, as the impeller rotates to circulate cooling fluid within the engine, coolant invariably leaks around the coolant seal assembly and into the intermediate housing chamber due to the nature of the seal. A weep hole, which is open to the atmosphere, is provided in the intermediate housing chamber so that the leaked coolant may escape from the pump housing without contaminating the oil or damaging the bearing assembly within the second housing chamber. Unfortunately, coolant in varying amounts is leaked into the atmosphere causing environmental concern and lower customer perception of the product.
The present invention provides an inexpensive design to minimize or substantially eliminate leaked fluid from dripping from a pump. The present invention is therefore directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.